THE KORSAK AND THE KARAGAN. 123 



rigour of tlie season, he dies almost immediately, frozen to 

 death. 



Two other species of the Canidse, the Korsak and the 

 Karagan, are eagerly hunted by the Tartars, especially by 

 the Kirghis tribes. But the chase, in this instance, is 

 carried on with a commercial object, the fur of these 

 animals being very valuable, and thousands being sold 

 every year at the great market of Oldenburg. The korsak 

 would seem to be a kind of fox. In colour he closely 

 resembles the jackal, but his long tail terminates in a black 

 tuft, and on either side of the head a brown streak extends 

 from the eye to the muzzle. He is found over all the wild 

 steppes of Tartary, and lives in a burrow, like his vulpine 

 congener. It is a " vulgar error " to say that he never 

 drinks. He is a handsome animal, and when, towards the 

 close of the sixteenth century, several living specimens were 

 brought to Europe, he acquired quite a fashionable reputa- 

 tion. All the great ladies of France showed a desire to 

 possess the new favourite, which they admitted into the 

 household, and in their daily promenades led about like a 

 pet dog. The mania did not last long, but it showed, at all 

 events, that the animal could be easily domesticated. 



BIRD LIFE IN THE STEPPES. 



The Bird World of the plains is comparatively limited, 

 both in species and individuals. Its principal members are 

 some migratory Palmipeds, a few Gallinacese, and a few 

 rapacious birds. The fruit-eating and insect-eating birds 

 must necessarily be absent from a region which is deficient 



